C. Communication

The Office of Adult Education Initiatives Office (AEI) set up a communications structure to give grantees timely information and support.

Grantees are assigned an AEI Program Coordinator at the beginning of every grant cycle (July). AEI Program Coordinators serve as the grantee’s primary point of contact and should be contacted first if a grantee has a question or needs assistance. Reference the Program Coordinator list in the Communication section to see which grantees are assigned to each AEI program coordinator.

At the beginning of each grant cycle, grantees are asked to identify a primary program contact, secondary program contact (if applicable) and fiscal contact. The primary program contact, often the director of the grant program, is the main person overseeing and operating the grant program. This person will be included on all communication sent from AEI and is primarily responsible for communicating with AEI and meeting the requirements and deadlines related to the grant. If the grantee identifies a secondary point of contact, this person will also be treated as a primary point of contact and therefore will be included on all communications from AEI. Fiscal contacts will be included on any communications related to budgeting, reimbursements and expenditure. The primary/secondary points of contact will also be included on any fiscal communications.

Grantees also identify a LACES System Administrator, who manages LACES user accounts for the program and maps user accounts to particular roles; an Accessible Design Coordinator, who is the main point of contact ensuring processes and procedures are in place for serving individuals with learning needs; and the Local Assessment Coordinator, who safeguards assessment materials and ensures the requirements in the state assessment policy are adhered to. Communication about these topics will include the person identified in that respective role along with the primary/secondary points of contact.

AEI makes every effort to consolidate communications with grantees and minimize the amount of email traffic. The main method of communication is a newsletter called “AEI Updates” via email every two weeks. This newsletter goes to all primary/secondary contacts and includes pertinent grant information, updates, tools, resources and upcoming events. It is imperative grantees read these newsletters as they often include requests for grantee action. A second newsletter is sent at the same time called the “AEI Watercooler”. This newsletter goes to anyone in the public that has signed up for the CLICK listserv.1 The AEI Watercooler includes tools, resources and information about upcoming events.

If an issue is time sensitive an email that is separate from the “AEI Updates” may be sent to primary/secondary contacts. Also, if a communication must contain a lot of details and/or attachments a separate email may be sent.

AEI also maintains a Calendar on the AEI website with trainings and events for grantees. The trainings are often AEI-hosted but also include trainings and conferences from partner agencies and the Colorado Adult Education Professional Association (CAEPA).

1The CLICK listserv is a broad distribution list including grantees, adult education programs not funded by AEI, state and local partners, staff and instructors within adult education programs and anyone else interested in adult education in Colorado. Job postings, local and state level events and class schedules are among some of the most common pieces of information released on CLICK. Most grantee primary contacts elect to be on the CLICK listserv. To be added to CLICK, please contact aei@cde.state.co.us.